Family
by DiamondGamer
Summary: Keeping calm wasn't something typical for Elle, and Margaret knew that. Most of the time, she just couldn't form that mother-daughter bond with either of her children. One-shot.


The blonde smiled as she shook her younger sister gently, who was still under her blankets, trying her best to ignore the other. Elle, however, wasn't the one to give up easily. "Nora," She cooed, giggling at her persistence. While Nora was always like that in the morning, today was a special day she really wanted to miss. "Get up. Mom's going to be mad if you don't get dressed. And we don't want to see mommy angry, do we?"

Nora whined and poked her head out, and Elle glanced at her warm, peachy cheeks. For a 7-year old, everyone could already tell what a beauty she would grow up to be - while she failed to inherit any of her father's physical traits, her soft teal eyes and dirty blonde hair were her mother's thing. Elle was, in fact, the same regarding that, though she somewhat wished she wasn't.

"Mommy never brings me outside the town. I'm scared. What if she'll leave me alone and not come back for me?" The little girl questioned, her eyes going wide in pleading as she sat up. Elle shook her head and stroked her sister's hair gently. Their mother wanted to take them to a festival, which was a weird thing to both of them, as she was usually a workaholic and would most probably miss that kind of event.

"She won't!" The older one assured her, then glanced out the window and squinted her eyes - it was a bit too bright for her, too. Elle wasn't a morning person, not at all, and that's something she wished she could deny. "You know, it would be a good change. This town is way too gloomy and silent for me." She inched closer and whispered softly, "Just like mom."

Nora giggled at the comment, but quickly frowned and sat up. She was well aware that the comfort she was seeking from Elle would not be enough for her to be allowed to stay in bed and sleep. Perhaps she was right - Margaret despised Shepherd's Glen, and any other normal person would take the chance to escape reality for a while. Elle wasn't quite the same - she enjoyed the silence, but what disturbed her was what they refused to tell her. She knew absolutely nothing on its history.

The young girl picked up a soft, short fuchsia dress from the closet and stared at it for a while in hesitation. Her sister walked over, but she gestured her to stay away. "I can do this by myself. I'm not 5!" She pouted, stripping off her warm pajamas.

"I know you aren't. You sure grow up fast." Elle commented, then watched her as she clumsily got dressed and took short breaths as she felt it was a bit too tight for her, but regained composure and turned around. If Elle wasn't going to dress her up, the hair was ALWAYS her job, and Nora liked her hair braided, but couldn't do that by herself. Win-win situation for both of them.

They walked out of the room and grabbed a piece of cold toast from the counter, and Nora began quietly chewing on it, while her sister just scoffed and threw hers in the bin. Her mother was by the window with her back on them. Elle crossed her arms. "Is that all you have for breakfast?"

Margaret turned around and looked at her blankly. She seemed worn out and definitely not in the mood to talk. "You'll eat when you get there. We're just waiting for daddy right now. He'll buy you food." With that, she went silent and refused to say anything else.

Nora's eyes quickly lit up and she gasped in excitement, while Elle just stared at her in disbelief, anger slowly rising inside of her. She wasn't exactly looking forward to spending time together, but she quickly realised what the other's intentions were - she simply wanted to get rid of them for a day, not like she was too excited for something so 'childish'. She hadn't seen their father in a while, however, and that was something she was content with. "You're not coming?" She questioned accusingly. "You were so very excited! Wasn't she, Nora? We both got the impression that we'll be together."

Their mother stifled her desire to groan and returned her gaze to something outside - the guilt-tripping didn't work well with her, but was simply annoying. "Well, I've never actually mentioned that, have I, now? You get time with daddy. Or do you want me to call him and tell him you don't want that?"

Nora shivered at that thought and silently gestured her sister to keep quiet, but Elle didn't notice. She felt the unbelievable urge to shout and throw accusations, even if it would be in front of a 7-year old, even though it had happened before - they fought a lot, and Margaret had promised to change, ignored, tried to change the subject, defended herself, everything had happened already. "Oh, alright. Perhaps one day you'll be able to spend your free time with us." She added coldly.

"Elle!" Her sister squeaked and pulled her sleeve. "Stop talking!"

"I can't stop talking, sister! Not when our damn mother refuses to acknowledge us as her children!"

Margaret growled and banged the table, then turned to face them angrily. Nora felt really scared now - Elle never swore. Never in front of them, never like that. Their mother took a deep breath, keeping herself from shouting back - she didn't want a conflict at the moment. "Okay, listen," She spoke softly, trying to remain calm. "I'll go with you, if it's that important."

Reluctant agreement was the last thing either of them wanted, but it was something. It probably wasn't going to make Nora as happy, since they had to turn it into a fight right in front of her, and she as currently aware that Margaret wasn't too eager about doing anything connected with them. "I'll go!" The woman repeated herself. "Just...give me a minute to dress up!" With that, she walked out, leaving the two in silence.

"She's a good mommy, sis." Nora told her, sadness clearly shown on her expression. "She tries. Maybe it was her day-off. You didn't need to force her. If she doesn't like me, that's okay."

"Mommy likes nobody, love. Not even herself." Elle mumbled in reply, then looked out the window as she heard the familiar sound of their dad's car being parked nearby. Nora followed her gaze and smiled brightly.


End file.
